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nuoAXixcs IX i»,i-:k culture 



655 



HIVE-COVEKS PROTECTED BY TAR PAPER TO PREVENT LEAKING AND_CHECKING. 



A CHICKEN THAT GOES THROUGH THE 

 APIARY EVERY AFTERNOON CATCH- 

 ING DRONES. 



BY W. E. M' KARL AND. 



jSIy apiary of 85 ten-frame colonies is run 

 for comb honey in -IX 5 sections. The illus- 

 tration shows a part of it, and also my hon- 

 ey-house in the background, which is also 

 the chicken-house. I have a chicken that 

 makes the rounds of the apiary every after- 

 noon about half-past three or four, catching 

 drones which he eats. 



Notice that the covers of the hives are 

 protected by single-ply roofing-paper. I 

 think this is a fine thing, as it keeps the 

 hive-covers dry and saves the paint, and 

 also keeps the tops from checking. 



Paris, Mo. 



THE SOURCE OF WATER FOR IRRIGATION. 



BY" WESLEY FOSTER. 



As the vapor-laden winds blow from the 

 Pacific Ocean eastward they encounter high 

 mountain ranges; and in striking these cold 

 granite shoulders of the continent they are 

 forced to give up their moisture in the shape 

 of snow in winter and rain in summer. 

 These winds, generally coming from the 

 west, leave most of their moisture on the 

 western slopes of the mountain ranges; and 

 this is why the streams flowing from the 

 western slopes carry more water for the 

 same area drained than the eastern-slope 

 streams. 



The higher and more continuous the 



mountain ranges the more water there is 

 foi irrigation. An example of this is the 

 X^orthern Colorado farming district com- 

 prising the largest stretch of irrigated land 

 in the United States lying in one body. 

 The Front Pvange extends in an unbroken 

 line from about seventy-five miles south of 

 Denver to the Wyoming line. The range 

 has a great number of peaks from twelve to 

 fourteen thousand feet in height, with the 

 great bare stretches of slopes, ravines, crev- 

 ices, and canyons from twelve thousand 

 feet down to eight thousand feet, catching 

 and holding the winter snow till long into 

 the hottest summer. 



This great granite wall, lying forty to fif- 

 ty miles to the west of our fertile farms, al- 

 ways in view, a visible record of the amount 

 of water for the coming season's crop can be 

 easily read by the observer who has watch- 

 ed the interesting sight of the gradual ac- 

 cumulation of snow-fields and filling ravines 

 for several years. After a week of storm, 

 the whole range being hidden from view, 

 Ihe clouds rise or are disjDelled, and then 

 the wind blows as only the wind on the 

 range can blow. The writer has seen the 

 mountain peaks almost hidden in the mist 

 of driving snow when the sun was shining 

 brightly, and this at a distance of forty 

 miles. It would hardly be comfortable 

 making one's way through such a storm. 

 But such winds do incalculable benefit in 

 drifting the snow into ravines and gulches. 



The timber-line is reached at about eleven 

 thousand feet, and from this altitude down 

 to about eight thousand feet the mountains 

 are covered with a fine growth of pine. 

 These pine forests catch and hold the snow 



